Isaiah Two

“O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the Lord. For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with eastern ways; They are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they are pleased with the children of foreigners. Their land is also full of silver and gold, And there is no end to their treasures; Their land is also full of horses, And there is no end to their chariots. Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made.”

The above passage strikes me.

Isaiah tells Judah, the Lord’s people, God has forsaken them because they are filled with eastern ways, they are soothsayers, and they’re pleased with the children of foreigners.

Now when Isaiah writes "forsaken" he’s not saying that God will forget about them, or turn away from them forever more. Think of it as God hiding His face. Like He’s covering His eyes with His hand. There is a similar idea in Deuteronomy 31:17.

I wonder if God ever looks at the church in North America and sees the same thing. Maybe God looks at us and sees the same thing?

What struck me from this passage was Judah had allowed the other nations to influence them, turning them away from God. They bought into their systems, and left God behind.

Could this be said of you or I?

Have we bought into the world’s system(s) and left God behind? Is it possible the world’s philosophy has snuck into the church? I think we have to admit, this is a real possibility.

We can’t underestimate the effect the world wants, and does, have on us. I think this is why Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 to renew our minds.

After my Mac has been running for a few days, it starts to get slow. The simple tasks I need it to do take way too long. I have to shut it down or restart it, then it’s back to normal.

As Christians we need to shutdown and restart, or (as Paul put it) renew our minds. Renewing our minds is the first step in stopping the influences of the world from effecting us. As we fill our heads with truth the lies are exposed giving us the opportunity to change and live lives under the influence of God.

We need to ask God to expose how we’ve allowed the world to influence us, replace any lies with truth, and live lives that glorify Him.

Do you need to shutdown and restart?